If I Don't Tell You Now
by Zanessatroyella2017
Summary: "I need you so much Ella. I need for you to know what I'm feeling. If I don't tell you these words I don't know if I'll be able to ever get the chance again!" By this point I was standing right in front of her begging her to look at me.


"I'm going to ask Gabriella to marry tonight" My head shot up as I turned to look at my close friend, Mark Andrews.

"What?" He nodded his head with a small smile as he took a drink of his beer.

"Yup. I think it's about time I go ahead and make that step. I'm mean we've been together for four years and I know she's the one so why not." My heart started to speed up and my head starting spinning as I listened to what Mark was saying.

"Are you sure?" I asked as he looked at me.

"Of course I am Troy. You know Gabriella's a great girl. Hell you know her better than anyone. Who wouldn't want to marry her." I nodded my head as I stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

"I'm planning on taking her to dinner and doing it there." I frowned as Gabriella wouldn't like that. She always told me she dreamed of her proposal happening in a park or beach at night. She hated the spotlight on her.

"That's sounds great." I put on a fake smile as Mark smiled. I shook my head as I couldn't deal with this right now.

"Hey dude we should probably call it a day. I have to get some work done before the game comes on." Mark shook his head as he finished off his work before grabbing his stuff.

"Alright dude. Hey I'll call you tomorrow to let you know how it went. You already know you're in the wedding. I mean I wouldn't have her if it wasn't for you." He slapped my shoulder as I once again put on a fake smile.

Once he left, I groaned as plopped down on my couch with my hands in my face. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm not happy for my friend. Well you see the reason is because I'm deeply in love with his girlfriend, my best friend of 17 years, Gabriella Montez. Gabriella and I have been friends since we were 7 when she moved next door to me. She was like the female version of me. We did everything together. I could always count on her and vice versa. I don't exactly remember when everything changed. I think it had to be our junior year of high school. She had left for 3 months to spend the summer in New York with her dad. I had missed her like crazy. It was by far the hardest, most boring summer without her. We talked everyday but it wasn't the same. The moment I saw her again, I knew something had changed. It's like something had sparked between the two of us. I saw her in a completely different light. I mean she had always been beautiful but I had finally noticed how beautiful she was. I didn't just see her as a sister or my best friend but as something more. I tried for years to tell her how I felt but I always chickened out.

Once we graduated high school, I figured the feelings would go away but unfortunately that never happens. We ended up both attending NYU, me for business and basketball and her for nursing and basketball. That's when we met Mark. He was my roommate and he would hang out with us from time to time. Durning our 2nd year, I had came back from a basketball game in Chicago when I discovered the two were together. I was devastated to say the least. Four years later and they are still together and my feelings for Gabriella are still there. It kills me to watch the two of them together. To hear him talk about her, to see him holding her or kissing her. I hate ever last part of it but she's my best friend I can't just walk out of her life because of my feelings for her. I guess Mark saying that he is going to propose really hurts because I could've stopped this from happening six months ago.

_I was up packing my bags for my three week business trip to California. I was nearly finished when my phone started ringing. I looked to see who it was when a smile crossed my face._

"_Hey Ella. What's up."_

"_Troy…" My heart started racing as I noticed that Gabriella was crying. I stopped packing as I sat on my bed._

"_Ella what's wrong?!" _

"_Can you…can you come over." I nodded my head as I ran to my living room throwing my shoes on. _

"_Of course. I'm on the way Ella okay…I'll be there in ten minutes."_

_I raced down my stairs and climbed in my car before making the ten minutes drive to her apartment. I had thousands of thoughts running through my head. I hated when Gabriella would cry and I knew she needed me. Once I reached her apartment, I hurried up and parked before running to her building. The reception let me up without signing in. I was here so much that they already knew who I was there for. I raced up to the 3__rd__ floor and down to her door. I knocked on the door as not even 2 seconds later, I was face to face with a tear stained Gabriella. I felt my heart skip a beat because even when she was crying she was beautiful. _

"_Oh Ella." I pulled her into my arms as I closed the door. She cried into my chest as I rubbed her back. I let her cry it out for ten minutes before I sat us down on her couch._

"_You want to tell me what has you crying like this." I asked her as I moved a piece of hair behind her ear and she sniffed._

"_Mark and I broke up." She said it in a whisper but I heard it loud and clear. I was secretly cheering insides but I kept my cool. I frowned as I looked down at her. _

"_Why?" I felt her tense up as I knew it had to be something serious._

"_I don't want to talk about it." I didn't want to push her so I just left it alone. I knew she would tell me when she was ready._

"_Okay…well my flight doesn't leave until 10 tomorrow so how about we break out the Vodka and watch some Family Guy." I offered her with a small smile as I rubbed her hair. She gave me a smile back as she nodded her head. I moved her off my lap as I went to go get the vodka and some glasses as she set the tv up. 2 hours later and many many drinks later we were definitely drunk. _

"_Troyyyyyyy why do you have to leave for three whole weeks?!" Gabriella asked with a pout as I laughed. _

"_I have a job to do Ella." I slurred._

"_But I'm going to miss you…" _

"_I'm going to miss you too Ella." She pushed my shoulder as I just shook my head and started tickling her causing her to laugh._

_Before I knew it I was straddling her lap as she was under me still laugh. I stopped when I realized she needed to breathe. I looked down at her with a smile as I pushed some hair out of her face. I felt my heart start to speed up when I saw what position we were in. I could tell she had realized it too when she bit her lip. God the things I wanted to do to her lip. We looked at each other as I felt a force pull me towards her. I could have sworn I saw her lean in as well. Before I knew it we were kissing. I could taste her cherry chapstick and God she tasted wonderful. She tasted just like I dreamed she would. Kissing her was like being in a fucking cloud. It was like I was high in the sky and I never wanted to come down. I leaned up to position her in my lap. Her arms around my neck and my hands on her waist. We stopped kissing when air became important. She moved in my lap so she was straddling me and not even a second later her lips where on mine again. My hands worked their way under her shirt as she did the same. I groaned when she started to trace my abs. I pulled back to kiss her neck as she tried to catch her breath._

"_Bedroom" _

_My body moved faster than my brain as I picked her up and ran to her room. Once there, I pushed her against the door as clothes were soon thrown all over the place. I moaned as she started to kiss my neck and she quickly found my sweet spot. I squeezed her waist as I couldn't think straight. All I wanted was her. That's all I ever wanted. I pulled her head back and slammed my lips onto hers as I picked her up and placed her on the bed. I kissed her stomach, then her chest, then her jaw before hovering over her lips. Both of our breathing becoming harder and harder with each kiss. I looked down at her as my heart fluttered. She looked so beautiful that I wanted to stay in this moment forever._

"_Are you sure about this Ella?" _

_Even though we were drunk I didn't want to push her. I would stop if she wanted me too. She bit her lip again as she nodded her head before giving me another mind blowing kiss. At that moment, I lost it….._

_I awoke the next morning with the sun blazing into the room. My head was banging and this sun was not helping. I started to roll over when I felt something on my chest. I looked down to see Gabriella laying on my chest naked. The blankets were covering everything below our waist. Memories of last night started to come back to my mind and all I could do was smile. I looked at my phone to see it was nearly 7:30. I groaned as I realized I was leaving today and I needed to leave now if I wanted to make it on time. Everything in me told me to wake her up but I knew she had work later on so I let her be. I quietly got out of bed, placing Ella on her pillow before collecting my things. I kissed her forehead before walking out of her apartment, not realizing I would regret not waking her up._

While I was away, I acted like a total idiot. I started thinking that maybe what we did was wrong. Maybe Gabriella just saw it as a mistake. I started overthinking and it scared the shit out of me. When Gabriella had called me later that day, I didn't even bring up the sex. I just played the entire thing off. She never said anything either so we left things at that. Over the three weeks, all I could think about was that night. How it felt to hold her, kiss her, be with her. I wanted more. I needed more. Once I flew back to New York, I drove straight to her apartment.

_I knocked on Ella's door as I tried to steady my breathing. I knew what I was about to do was going to change our lives but I couldn't wait any longer. I should have done this three weeks ago but that's in the past. I smiled as I watched Gabriella open the door. _

"_Oh My God Troy!" I laughed as she jumped into my arms._

"_What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming home until tonight?" I shrugged my shoulders as we walked into her apartment._

"_I got out of my last meeting so I hopped on the next plane home. I missed you." She blushed as I watched her look at the floor. I took a deep breath as it was now or never. _

"_Look Ella..we need to talk about what happened." Her head snapped up as she looked at me. _

"_Troy…"_

"_Gabs who was at the door?" My head snapped to her room to see Mark walking into the living room. "Troy dude what's up." I looked over at Gabriella who was looking anywhere but at me._

"_Hey what are you doing here?" I asked confused. They broke up so why is he here. _

"_Gabriella didn't tell you. We got back together." I felt my heart drop into my stomach. I looked over at Gabriella who bit her lip and nodded. _

"_Oh that's um, that's great man." Mark smiled as he pulled Gabriella close to him. I knew she could feel me looking at her as she wouldn't meet my eyes._

"_We were about to go get some lunch. You in?" I rubbed the back of my neck as I shook my head._

"_No I um need to get home but you two have fun. I'll talk to you guys later." I walked towards the door as I felt Ella behind me._

"_Troy.." I shook my head as I put on a fake smile and turned to look at her._

"_It's fine Ella. I'll see you later." I kissed her cheeked as I walked out of her apartment. _

Every since that day, I have regretted not talking about what happened sooner. She could be with me, we could be happy. Instead she's about to get engaged to a man who I know isn't any good for her. Don't get me wrong, I love Mark like a brother but she should be with me. I groaned as I looked over at a picture of Ella and I. I shook my head as I couldn't take this anymore. I jumped up, grabbed my keys and flew to my car. Once I reached her apartment I ran up the stairs to her floor before knocking on her door. Once she opened the door I noticed how surprised she looked.

"Troy what are you doing here?" I looked at her as I noticed she had just got off work and probably was about to get ready for tonight.

"I need to talk to you." I walked into her living room as we both sat on the couch. I rubbed the back of my neck as I tried to steady my breathing.

"Troy are you okay?" I looked at her as she looked concerned. It took everything in me not to just fucking kiss her.

"I love you." She nodded her head as she looked confused.

"I love you too Troy." I shook my head as clearly she wasn't understanding what I was saying.

"No Ella. I _love _you. As in I'm in love with you." She looked shocked as she didn't say anything. I knew I had to finish before I punked out again.

"I've been in love with you since we were 16. All I can think about is you. I've been holding these feelings in for so long and I can't take it anymore. Whenever we're in the same room, the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The moment you laugh or smile, my heart melts. I love being able to hold you and hug you. I figured that maybe it was safer not to say anything because I don't want to ruin what we have, but I-I can't do it anymore." I shook my head as I watched her process the new information. "I love you Ella. I always have and I always will."

"Why now" it sounded like a whisper but I heard it. I shrugged my shoulders as I couldn't tell her the real reason.

"I don't know." She stood up and shook her head as she backed away from me.

"Bullshit!" I looked at her shocked as she looked angry.

"Ella I.."

"No Troy. How could you do this?! How can you come over here and say all of this stuff now! Why now! Why not six months ago! You had the chance to say something and you didn't. You just acted as if it never happened. We had sex Troy! No we made _Love_! And instead of saying something you just left! We talked everyday and not once did you say anything. So why now huh?" She was definitely pissed. I knew a pissed Gabriella and this was definitely that. I mean I couldn't blame her. I sighed as I walked towards her.

"I know not saying anything sooner was a mistake. I know I should have told you. Please Ella understand that I love you! That night that we had sex was the best night of my life. When I woke up all I wanted to do was hold you. I know I should've left a note. I know I should have talked about it. I was an idiot. I thought that it would be best not to say anything. All I could think about was that night. When I came home and came to see you I wanted to tell you how I felt but then Mark was here." I watched her face drop as she shook her head. "I'm sorry Ella I am but if I don't tell you now I may never get the chance again to tell you that I need you. I need you so much Ella. I need for you to know what I'm feeling. If I don't tell you these words I don't know if I'll be able to ever get the chance again!" By this point I was standing right in front of her begging her to look at me. I lifted her face so that our eyes could meet. I rubbed her cheeks as I needed for her to understand.

"I love you Ella and I can't say it enough. I was an idiot. I've been an idiot for so long because I should have told you way back in high school."

She shook her head as if she was lost for words. I couldn't blame her, I would be too. She walked away from me and I pulled her back to me. Before she knew it, I had kissed her. I could tell she was taken back but she kissed backed. I put everything into that kiss. Every ounce of love that I had for her went into that kiss. I pushed her up against the wall and placed my hands on her waist. One of my hands moved to rub her cheek as this was the best way I could explain everything. I felt her pull back before she pushed me off of her.

"You need to leave." She said as she looked down at the floor shaking her head. I couldn't tell if she was shocked, pissed, sad or all three.

"Ella.."

"Leave Troy!" My shoulders slumped as I ran my hand through my hair and nodded before leaving. I turned around to say something but she had already closed the door. I placed my forehead on the door as I closed my eyes trying to stop the tears from falling.

* * *

I rolled over in my bed for what felt like the thousandth time. I looked to see that it was 2:30 in the morning. I groaned as I haven't been able to fall asleep in hours. All I could think about was what happened today with Gabriella. We didn't talk to each other for the rest of the day. I figured it was useless since I knew she had dinner with Mark. I rolled my eyes as I figured that they were happily engaged by now. Probably celebrating their engagement. I sighed as I knew that I really would have to move on now. Gabriella was right…I shouldn't have waited so long and now look at me. The love of my life just got engaged to another man. I'll just have to suck it up. As long as she is happy, then I will be happy.

I heard a loud knock come through the apartment as I frowned. It was late in the night so who the hell could be knocking. The knocking didn't stop, so I hopped up and threw a pair of sweatpants over my boxers. I opened the door to come face to face with my best friend.

"Gabriella..what are you doing here?" She Ignored me as she walked through the door. I looked at her confused as I closed the door and followed her to the living room.

"Ella…"

"You knew didn't you." She turned to look at me as I could tell she had been doing some serious thinking.

"Knew what?"

"You knew that Mark was going to propose to me tonight didn't you?" I felt my body tense up as I dropped my head. "That's why you came over today! That's why you said all of that stuff. You knew about this."

"So what if I did Gabriella! I told you that's all the matters."

"So what?! Troy you had your chance to tell me before today! You had plenty of chances to tell me but now that you knew Mark's plan you thought why not huh." I groaned as she was right. I hated when she was right.

"I know I know. I can't stress enough how much of an idiot I am but I just…I couldn't let it happen without you knowing." It got quite for a while as we just sat on the couch. Neither one of us daring to say anything.

"I guess I should congratulation you on your engagement." I mumbled as I rubbed the back of my neck. Gabriella shook her head as she looked over at me.

"There's nothing to congratulate." I starred at her as I was confused. What does she mean?

"Huh?" She raised up her left hand to show her fingers that were all empty. I looked at her shocked as she shrugged her shoulders.

"I said no."

"Why…."

We starred at each other as I think we both knew the answer. She got off the couch and walked over to me as sat in my lap. I instantly wrapped my arms around her waist as her went around my neck.

"I loved Mark but he's not the man I see myself married too." I blinked my eyes at her as I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"What did Mark say?" She sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"He asked was it because of you. He said that he knew he would never have all of me because of you. That's why we broke up six months ago. He was tired of having to compete with you." I looked at her stunned as this was the first time I was hearing any of this. I mean even Mark had never said anything to me. I couldn't blame him, I probably would be pissed if I was in his shoes. I felt Gabriella run her hands through my hair, breaking me from my thoughts. I looked up at her to see her eyes sparkling.

"Call me crazy but you've always been the man I saw at the end of the aisle waiting for me." I smiled as we both leaned in for a kiss. This kiss was way better than earlier. It reminded me of the one six month ago but ten times better. She pulled back as she ran her fingers through my hair, looking into my eyes.

"I love you Troy. I've loved you since we were teens. Yes you were an idiot for what happened between us six months ago but I'm happy you finally said something." She kissed me soundly as I pulled her closer to me, if that was even possible. Pulling back I kissed her forehead as I connected our foreheads.

"You'll always been the man for me Troy Bolton." I closed my eyes as I had been dreaming of her saying these words.

"Be mine." I whispered as she giggled before pecking my lips.

"Don't you get it…I've always been you yours." I laughed as I nodded my head as I kissed her again.

"And you always will be."

* * *

**Hey guys! So what do you think? I just wanted to drop a cute little Troyella one shot. This is based off of the song **_**If I Don't Tell You Now **_**by Ronan Keating. Please review oh and also let me know if you want me to update **_**A Tragic Mistake **_**or drop another one shot. **


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